July 13 2013

Bethany Slomka in SUDS at New Village Arts (which I directed). Now in previews.

Daily Stuff: In the Heights reh. Started by setting a transition into a scene. It was a fairly involved set up involving a record player, dining room table and six chairs. i managed to make it look fun and samba-ish.

Had to set a small dance for two characters within the scene. A little funny tango with hips.

Then went on start setting the Club sequence. Cannot lie. It is the section I am the most apprehensive about. Only because it is long, has non stop individual dancing and has to make a lot of plot points.

Also because of the size of the stage and shape of the stage, I have to cut back on the ensemble. I have 8 couples in the ensemble, but right now I can only squeeze 6 couples in. If it looks too squished I may have to cut back on that as well.

Anyhow, I managed to get a very rough outline for the whole thing. But I fo awhile I didn't even think I would get that. Luckily, I have a couple of things going for me.

First is that I have a very good assistant, Spencer Smith, who is a bit of a salsa specialist. Since his character is the lead dancer in the club sequence, I am able to let him bring a lot to the table.

Second is that my leads are all great about instantly making the things that you give them "interesting." So you can see right away whether it will work or not. They also have a wealth of info regarding recent popular culture. So we can make a lot of "jokes" about dance moves from 2006-8.